Page 70 of The Headmistress

“Tell me, if Sam wouldn’t have had the wherewithal to aim for the hinges and break down the door that way, would you have come and saved me? Or would you have let me burn?”

In the eerie quiet of the room, Sam knew the answer. It was all over the silence, all over George’s tears, all over her shaking hands.

“For a couple of seconds after taking the picture, I just stood there and watched the two of you together and I hated it so much, because I knew... I knew then that it didn’t matter if you were fired based on that photo. It didn’t matter if you left Dragons. You weren’t mine anymore. You didn’t want me anymore. You hadn’t spent a single evening with me since we’d landed on these wretched rocks. You only wanted her. I had to punish you too. If you weren’t going to be mine, you weren’t going to be anyone else’s.”

“I was never yours!” The shout, like a bullet, pierced the silence and now it was George’s turn to recoil.

Shoulders thrown back, head held high, Magdalene finally stepped out from behind the desk. Her gait sure, her movements graceful, she was all poise and beauty. Power in action. Mesmerizing. Sam caught herself staring.

“In that moment, George? That moment you hated so much? I was happy, safe and beloved! I was everything I ever wanted to be.”

The tears in George’s eyes spilled over and her sob was wretched. Magdalene’s tone did not waver.

“When the police come, you will tell them again what you just told Sam and me. You will confess, you will take whatever plea deal they offer you. There will be no trial. You will not drag Sam or Timothy or me or this school through more dirt than you already have.” Sam marveled that, even through what had to be the most horrible experience of her life, a betrayal of massive proportions, Magdalene was consumed with everyone else’s comfort and safety.

“And after?” George’s voice trembled with tears.

“After?” Like a bird of prey, Magdalene swept close to her, their faces inches away. “After? George, I trusted you, I gave pieces of myself to you, to our friendship through the years. There were times when the wolves were hounding me, when I believed you were my only friend. And yet you were the wolf that stalked me and hunted me all my life. The one who ruined my marriage, who destroyed my relationship with a man who did not deserve to be used this way, despite his many faults…” Chest rising and falling, Magdalene straightened and now looked down at George, eyes sparkling and nostrils flaring.

“You crossed all the lines, George. Lines that I will never allow anyone to cross ever again. But one in particular, you never should have. So there will be no ‘after’. Even if they ever let you out of whatever miserable hole they put you in, you better never show your face in front of me again. Because of that line, George. If you’re wondering which one it is… You hurt Sam, George, and for crossing that line alone, I could ruin you.”

And just like that, all hell broke loose. George was howling and screeching about loving Magdalene, a group of cops came barreling into the room, Sheriff Green read George her Miranda Rights while she continued to spew hate at Sam and profess that she’d only ever wanted to love Magdalene. Joanne and Orla were trying to hold off Lily and the other girls, who were suddenly in the hallway, causing even more of a ruckus.

And in the midst of all the chaos, Sam simply looked at the calm eyes returning her gaze with so much love, so much devotion. Her own eyes were swimming in tears, her chest full of relief that it was over, yet breaking with empathy for the multitude of big and small heartbreaks Magdalene had lived through because of George’s obsession. And so she simply looked on, pouring into her gaze all her love, all her support, all her gratitude for this woman, and hoped that Magdalene would understand, would feel it, would be warmed and comforted by it.

25

Of Words, Caresses & Peace

The skin was warm under her lips, moving languidly under her touch, stretching luxuriously even as Sam traced each vertebra with her mouth.

Lying on her front, Magdalene was at Sam’s complete mercy, pliant, fully relaxed, luxuriating in the gentle caress of Sam’s lips on her spine.

“One… Two…” Sam licked and kissed and felt the chuckle shaking the delicate shoulders under her touch.

“I’m sure there’s no need for an audit report, Sam. They’re all there.”

“And they’re all gorgeous. And it’s only fair since you did, after all, try to count my freckles. This is easier. You know I could write poetry about your back. The expanse of flawless skin over firm, toned muscles over slim, fragile bones…”

“It feels like you’re already writing that poetry, darling. Your talents are wasted in that stuffy math department of yours.” Magdalene turned slowly in Sam’s arms, smooth skin gliding over smooth skin, raising goosebumps and awakening a hunger that, despite having been sated many times over tonight, was always just under the surface, embers of desire easily blown into flames again. She stretched, gracefully arching her back and offering her breasts to Sam’s mouth, but before Sam could lower her head and take a pink, tightly furled nipple between her lips, Magdalene caught her mouth in a long, wet kiss, tasting deeply, stealing her breath away.

“You really think so?” Sam’s head was swimming.

“Well, I wouldn’t go that far, Sam. But you have talents I enjoy immensely, even if poetry isn’t necessarily among them.” The chuckle she let out was positively filthy. “For example, I like your hands.”

“You like my hands, huh?” Sam’s smile was slow, sly, a bit smug, and it satisfied her immensely to feel Magdalene's abdominal muscles clench under her fingertips. “Or is it my mouth you like more, Magdalene? When it moves down your body slowly...” She could feel Magdalene’s desire building again, felt powerful to be able to do that with just words, something that had never come easy for her before seemed to be as natural as breathing with this woman. She felt sexy, daring.

“...When it finally arrives between your legs? Or is it my tongue you like? When it dips inside of you, when it tastes you, when it licks and licks and licks at your clit, slow, wide, firm strokes, unrelenting…” She followed her words with actions, and now her head swam for other reasons. The taste of her, the sheer unadulterated pleasure of taking Magdalene in her mouth, had Sam almost coming on the spot. Still so new, so exquisite, just a touch tangy, a touch sweet, uniquely her, Magdalene.

With Magdalene’s fingers tangled in her hair, Sam took her time, savoring, not teasing, but satisfying, keeping a steady pressure. She took her lover apart several times before the weak hands finally pushed her head away, ragged breaths ringing in the quiet room.

“You are so good at that.” Limp arms wrapped themselves around Sam’s shoulders, and she simply lay there, engulfed in love.Happy, safe, beloved, Magdalene’s words, said to George, still ringing in her ears.

Sam remembered standing all alone on the Amber Dragon months ago, the jasmine scent surrounding her, wishing for change. They say beware what you wish for, but as Sam’s wish came true in the most overwhelming fashion, all she could think was how happy she was that it had. For here she was, with the same jasmine scent around her, with Magdalene’s taste on her lips, no longer alone.Happy, safe, beloved.

“You are also very, very good at sensing my moods and my needs, you know that?” Magdalene shifted slightly and long fingers, no longer limp, started massaging Sam’s scalp and the nape of her neck, relaxing and enticing her at the same time.

“You mean…” Sam’s voice was slightly muffled by her face finding the crook of Magdalene’s shoulder and burrowing there.

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